DUBUQUE, Iowa - The University of Dubuque women's basketball team played their home opener on Friday night, welcoming the Pioneers of UW-Platteville. The Spartans trailed by two at the half, but the Pioneers would use a strong second half to defeat the Spartans 68-48.

The Spartans opened the scoring with the first of their four three-pointers in the first quarter to put them out in front 3-0. After trailing 7-5, Taylor Martin and Felicity Figlinski would hit back-to-back three-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Spartans an 11-7 advantage. The Pioneers would respond with an 8-0 before the Spartans ended the quarter with a 7-2 run capped off by a Lily Craig jumper to give them the 18-17 lead after 10 minutes of play.

Figlinski would hit her third three-pointer of the first half to open the second quarter, extending the Spartans' lead back to four. The Spartans were hitting timely three-pointers in the second quarter with Craig scoring from deep after trailing 22-21 and then again from Karsyn Pankonen after trailing 26-24. Trailing by five with 1:22 left in the opening half, the Spartans finished the quarter on a 3-0 to pull within 32-30 at the break.

The Pioneers were able to extend their lead in the early part of the third quarter with a 10-0 run to go up by double digits. From there, the Spartans would not be able to get the Pioneers lead back to single digits the rest of the way, falling to the Pioneers 68-48 in the home opener.

Figlinski scored 13 of her career-high 17 points in the first half with a trio of three-pointers, along with tying a team-high five rebounds.

The Spartans shot 50% from beyond the arc in the first half, but went just 1-8 in the second half. 

The Spartans fall to 2-3 overall.

Up Next
The Spartans will be back in action next Tuesday night (November 25) on the road at Wheaton College. Tip is set for 5:00 p.m. from King Arena.